Grant & I spend a lot of time outdoors and our holidays are always outdoor adventures. Even at home we spend a lot of time outdoors and we rarely shut our windows as we love to listen to the outdoors. We often come across little things in nature that you just have to smile at and I thought I would share some of the amusing things we have seen around Broome with you.

Around Broome there are several Great Bowerbird Chlamydera nuchalis bowers and the birds often visit our garden to get a drink and take some of the green berries from our native trees. The berries in this bower are from a prickly vine called Caesalpinia major. Bowerbirds are totally incapable of being quiet and often mimic other birds. In the Goldfields there are a lot less “treasures” and we have observed up to 15 Western Bowerbirds Chlamydera guttata maintaining a bower to all try and impress the lady! We have found live bullets in bowers!

On closer inspection we discover that the bird does not just take berries, but anything that may attract a mate…..have you lost a set of wheels?

Builders that leave their boxes of screws, washers and nails lying around can expect to lose a few!

In our garden we have water for the birds and when we found a plastic boat washed up on the beach we thought we would just add it to the pond. This Brown Goshawk was not sure what was going on, but it didn’t stop him from getting a bath.

Sometimes you just come across something that only a mother could love……..without an adult we would have been hard pressed to work out what this was! I don’t think it was having a bad day….it just looked that way! Any ideas which species has just left it’s nest?

Well done! Yes, it’s a White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorynchus.

So, now for the “non-bird” photo to make you smile!

Ever wonder what happens to jellybeans that get left on the beach after a party…well, hermit crabs are allowed to party too!

Written by Clare M
Clare and her husband, Grant, have lived permanently in Broome, Western Australia since 1999 after living in various outback locations around Western Australia and Darwin. She has lived in the Middle East and the United States and traveled extensively in Europe. She monitors Pied Oystercatchers breeding along a 23km stretch of Broome's coastline by bicycle and on foot. She chooses not to participate in social media, but rather wander off into the bush for peace and tranquility. Thankfully she can write posts in advance and get away from technology!